Author: media

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and love is in the air here at BF HQ – we’re currently enamoured with Philip Glass!

In preparation for his opera The Perfect American coming to QPAC this September, we’re immersing ourselves in his beautifully repetitive melodies. This week’s office favourites have included Glassworks by the Philip Glass Ensemble and Symphony No. 4 a.k.a. Heroes Symphony, based on the David Bowie album Heroes.

Keep your eye on our Facebook page over the coming months, where we’ll be sharing more of Glass’ prolific back catalogue. Given that he’s composed operas, symphonies, concertos, solo works, chamber music, musical theatre works and film scores; and has collaborated with the likes of Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Yo-Yo Ma, Suzanne Vega, Mick Jagger, Leonard Cohen, David Byrne and Aphex Twin (to name just a few!), there’s a lot to share.

We’re certain you’ll fall in love with him too!

Come along this Sunday morning, 16 February 2014, to join in the fun with this wonderful local community project.

COMMUNITY ART WORK PROJECT

When:                      Sunday, 16 February at 9.00am
Where:                     in front of the Kurilpa Hall at 174 Boundary Street, West End
What:                        about 20 concrete pipes will be painted and then will become garden beds
What to bring:         favourite paintbrush (if you have one), water and sun protection

Space is limited, anyone interested in participating should register with The Gabba Ward Office on Phone 3403 2165 or email thegabba.ward@ecn.net.au

Museum of Brisbane’s new exhibition The many lives of Moreton Bay will open tomorrow, unearthing untold stories of the epic Bay and showcasing newly discovered artefacts.

The monumental exhibition will centre around Bribie, Moreton, North Stradbroke, Peel and St Helena Islands and will include insights into the region from traditional owners the Quandamooka people, a General Manager at Port of Brisbane, a lighthouse keeper family and a resort owner, to name a few.

Situated 45 kilometres from Brisbane, Moreton Bay was once a haven for its traditional owners and became a microcosm of colonialism within just a few years of European settlement in 1824.

In the decades that followed, the region housed a prison, leper colony, whaling station and benevolent asylum. Today, the Bay is a hub of tourism and recreation, an important centre of industry and place of conservation and environmental research.

The many lives of Moreton Bay will showcase the ever-changing region and its intriguing past through a contemporary mix of social history, visual arts and multimedia, including an interactive map, video interviews, archival footage and a gallery of paintings.

The exhibition will include the amazing find of an 1878 painting, generously donated to Museum of Brisbane by Trisha Anderson. Created by a convict on St Helena Island, the painting is currently changing many assumptions about the former prison. Works by acclaimed artists such as Ian Fairweather and Ralph Wilson will also be presented.

Museum of Brisbane Director Peter Denham said as Moreton Bay had undergone endless transformations it was important to draw out its many lives and weave them together to give a balanced history.

“Very few people know the extent of the rich and diverse history of the Bay – it is not just a holiday destination or wilderness retreat, but a place of great historical significance to Brisbane,” Mr Denham said.

“In The many lives of Moreton Bay we cover all bases; we delve into topics such as Indigenous history, conservation, mining, recreation and more; and of course we look at the lives of those who endured, survived and thrived there.

“It is an incredibly powerful exhibition and I hope that it encourages people to get out to the Bay and make their own discoveries.”

The many lives of Moreton Bay will run until 12 October 2014, visit the museum website for more information.

Museum of Brisbane is open daily from 10am to 5pm on Level 3 of Brisbane City Hall. Free entry

The Australian Government has announced the launch of Cyber Security Challenge Australia 2014, teaming up with Telstra, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Microsoft to find the next generation of Australian cyber defenders

Cyber Challenge 2014 will test Australia’s best cyber-skilled undergraduates via a 24-hour virtual computer network scenario.

The Annual Cyber Challenge is eagerly awaited by government, universities and businesses interested in promoting the value of an ICT security qualification.

The Cyber Challenge is just one way that the Government is committed to building Australia’s secure online environment, and in training students for the growing need for ICT professionals.

First prize is a trip to the Black Hat 2014 conference in Las Vegas, USA—the worldwide, premier technical information security forum.

Cyber Challenge 2014 will be held from 7–8 May 2014 at participating universities across Australia.

Undergraduate teams can register their interest through their university from early-February, with information sessions being held at selected universities during March. Registrations close on 1 April 2014.

For more information visit: http://cyberchallenge.com.au/
or follow on Twitter @CySCA2014Game

No one wants to think about sexually transmissible infections on Valentine’s Day, but the day is a great opportunity to think about how you are keeping yourself safe.

National Condom Day falls on Valentine’s Day, February 14, to bring into focus the need for being aware of the risks of contracting an STI, says Jean Hailes gynaecologist Dr Elizabeth Farrell AM.

“We want women to know that they can catch an STI at any age, so even if you’re not worried about getting pregnant anymore, you still need to use a condom to practise safer sex,” she says.

While common STIs in Australia, including chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, HIV and genital herpes are seen at higher levels in teenagers and young adults, anecdotally doctors are seeing a rise in some of these conditions in older women.

Genital herpes is one STI where the prevalence is significantly higher in women than men, with those aged 35-44 having the highest prevalence (16% of women compared to 8% of men).

Dr Farrell’s advice to women in their 40s and 50s who are out there dating is that wearing a condom has to be non-negotiable.

“I see lots of women who say ‘I don’t need to worry about getting pregnant anymore so I don’t bother with condoms’. I tell them that while your period is irregular it is possible to fall pregnant and, more importantly, you need protection from infection, not just pregnancy,” she says. “And for women who are postmenopausal and may be starting a new relationship, pregnancy is not an issue, but you should still use condoms to protect you from catching an STI.”

“My advice is to develop the confidence at any age to talk to your partner about wearing condoms. There are lots of fun condoms these days, so explore what’s available and make it fun and enjoyable.”

“And for men and women this Valentine’s Day, why not be creative and say it with condoms – make it fun, exciting and healthy.”

Tips for safer sex

Condoms are not just for stopping pregnancy – they are also the best way to protect against STIs
Condoms are one of the most accessible and inexpensive forms of birth control and protection from STIs
You may not know if you – or your partner – has an STI as there may not be any obvious signs
You can catch an STI at any age – you are never too young or too old to practise safe sex
Use condoms if you are in a new relationship
Develop the confidence to talk to your partner about wearing condoms

The results are in and the winning words for 2013 have been decided. The winner of the Committee’s Choice is…infovore

Macquarie Dictionary has announced infovore as the Word of the Year 2013 from the list of new words selected for inclusion in the annual update of the Macquarie Dictionary Online.

The overall winning word was selected by the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year Committee, comprised of Dr Michael Spence (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney), Professor Stephen Garton (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Sydney), Anne Bell (Director of University Libraries, University of Sydney), Catriona Menzies-Pike (Arts Editor, The Conversation) and Susan Butler (Editor of the Macquarie Dictionary).

Infovore
noun a person who craves information, especially one who takes advantage of their ready access to it on digital devices.

The Committee thought that the coinage infovore was a response to the perception that we now had access to information all the time. The smart phone made it possible to find out immediately what we wanted to know. For some people knowing that whatever questions life threw at us the answer was a click or two away was a liberating experience. Indeed they were in danger of becoming addicted to this rush of instant information. This was a word that reflected a significant change in how we conducted our lives.

The Committee would like to give honourable mention to:

firescape
verb (t) (firescaped, firescaping) to landscape (an area) with the possibility of bushfire in mind, as by growing fire-resistant plants, creating firebreaks with gravel, concrete, etc., eliminating flammable wood or plastic items.

cli-fi
noun a genre of speculative fiction based on the premise that climate change will give rise to fundamental changes in the way human beings live.
[CLI(MATE) + FI(CTION) modelled on SCI-FI]

Each summer now we are constantly aware of a background of major bushfires. In response to this there is a continuing flow of new words related to bushfires and how we deal with them. Firescaping is a form of landscaping that reduces the hazard of fire.

The other honourable mention went to cli-fi, a neat coinage, and one that is prompted by environmental change. The committee thought that it was fair to say that in all the discussions generated by this topic, no one had predicted a new genre of sci-fi as an outcome.

The People’s Choice winner goes to…

onesie

Thousands of votes were cast on Macquarie Dictionary Online throughout January to determine the People’s Choice Word of the Year for 2013. This year the winning word was:

onesie

noun 1. a loose-fitting one-piece suit, usually of a stretch fabric, gathered at the wrists and ankles and loose at the crotch. 2. a one-piece stretch garment for an infant, with or without legs and sleeves, sometimes enclosing the feet. [one + -s- + -ie]

The runner-ups were marriage equality and showrooming.

Category winners

• Agriculture – dining boom
• Arts – fanfic
• Business – showrooming
• Colloquial – facepalm
• Communications – churnalism
• Eating and Drinking – coffee cupping
• Environment – firescape
• Fashion – onesie
• General Interest – watch and act
• Health – enabler
• Internet – Streisand effect
• Politics – marriage equality
• Social Interest – generation debt
• Sport – barefoot running
• Technology – dumb phone

For a full list of nominated words and their definitions please visit www.macquariedictionary.com.au